Various Artists

Pineapple Express Original Soundtrack

Cute. That’s my first reaction to the latest Seth Rogan dude comedy commissioning ’80s rock icon and Bitterroot resident Huey Lewis for the title track. But on second thought, it’s typical of this (or every) summer’s Hollywood template: slickly repackaged nostalgia, now available in soundtracks, too!

Pineapple Express the movie, due out next week, looks a lot like past Rogan vehicles—the plot involves two stoners who witness a crime by a dirty cop and menacing drug lord, who then try to kill the stoners. I expect at least one joke by Rogan about his “Jew fro.” “Pineapple Express” the song sounds a lot like past Lewis hits—the same blues-tinged vocals, the same bar-band sound. In fact, it’s to “I Want a New Drug” as any Coldplay hit is to any other Coldplay hit—all the same ingredients put into a blender and poured out for the masses with slightly different lyrics.

Here, the lyrics cover the basic plot of the movie. “I gotta get out of here,” sings Lewis. “I got you, you got me, and we’re as high as we can be. So it’s all right. Oh yeah, it’s all right. It’s not your fault, and it’s not mine. I was just in the wrong place and time. Now there’s trouble. Oh yeah, trouble.”

The rest of the soundtrack includes obligatory stoner tracks—paging Cyprus Hill—and not much else to speak of, which makes Lewis, bless him, this soundtrack’s highlight. Here’s hoping “Pineapple Express” at least makes the set list of his next local benefit appearance.